Higher Diploma in Education Primary
UPDATE April 2013: Each week the Admissions Office receives the questions: 'When is the next opportunity to do the Higher Diploma course?' and 'Will the next H.Dip course start in February 2014 or in September 2014?' The answer is that at the moment, none of the Colleges of Education know for sure. We are not permitted to publicise the course and accept applications before the course is officially sanctioned by the Department of Education and Skills. Up until now, the course has been an eighteen month course, taught over three semesters, beginning usually in February, and ending in June of the following year.
A change has been announced that starting in September 2014, the Higher Diploma course will be extended to twenty-four months or two years, and thus starting in September. At the moment it is unclear whether there will be one last eighteen month course beginning in February 2014, or whether the next Higher Diploma course will be a two year course starting in September 2014. To receive updates on this question, please check the NUI Maynooth website (with which the Froebel website will merge this summer) in November 2013, when there would be an announcement, if the H.Dip course were to run in February 2014. We will also now accept contact details of anyone interested in the course (please include postal address) at admissions@froebel.ie, so that we can send information on when the course will next run, as soon as we are informed by the Department of Education and Skills.
The files below are left available for information purposes.
The Higher Diploma (Primary Teaching) is a full time course held by the Froebel College of Education for persons with third-level degrees. The course enables third-level graduates to train as primary teachers. Persons who successfully complete this course will be recognised by the Department of Education and Skills as fully trained teachers for employment in any class in Primary Schools.
Froebel College is merging with NUI Maynooth this coming summer, and from September 2013 onwards, all classes will be held on the NUI Maynooth campus. Thus for the 2013-2014 Higher Diploma course the first semester from February 2013 through June 2013 would take place on the Froebel campus on Cross Ave., Blackrock, Co. Dublin and the final year of the course from September 2013 through June 2014 will take place on the NUI Maynooth campus in Maynooth, Co. Kildare. At that point, Froebel H.Dip and B.Ed students will be the only primary teacher education students taking all their courses at the heart of a major university with all the extra academic and extra-curricular advantages that this brings.
Newspaper Advertisement November 2012
Cover Letter from Froebel College Admissions Office
Application Form - as Gaeilge
Application Form - English
Iontráil do chúrsa oideachais do bhunmhúinteoirí 2013
English Entry Requirements 2013
Important Notice for All Applicants
Criteria for General Interview
Treoir do mharcáil na scrúduithe i labhairt na Gaeilge
Information on College Fees
Froebel College of Education 2013 Brochure
2013 Appeals Process Gaeilge
2013 Appeals Process English
The entrance requirements are set for all Colleges of Education offering this course by the Department of Education and Skills. The following description of these requirements is taken from the Department's website.
See Entry requirements and Procedures document above
Applicants are selected on the basis of qualifications and interview. Interviews are held in arrangement with the Department of Education and Skills and the Colleges of Education prior to the commencement of each course. An oral Irish interview is also conducted with applicants. Details and times of interviews are communicated to applicants on receipt of the completed application form. For the Dublin Centre, the interviews for the course begining in February 2013, will take place on Thursday, 13 December, and Friday, 14 December 2012. It is not possible to change the assigned interview time.
The number of places available annually is set by the Department of Education and Skills according to its estimates of the need for primary school teachers in the future. These places are then distributed among the Colleges of Education receiving graduate students. Applicants in the first instance apply to the College of their choice. Places are allocated to successful applicants according to the applicants' choice and the availability of places.
The places in the teacher training programmes will be allotted to those who receive the higher scores in the order of merit, with those scoring highest receiving their first choice of College of Education. Those candidates who just have just enough points to receive one of the last places may be offered a place in their first choice of College of Education. However, if the quota for that institution is already full, they would then be offered a place in their second or third choice College. In other words, there is no advantage to applying to a bigger or a smaller College in order to get a place in the teacher training programme, since those who score highest on the common list will 'get in.' You should choose your College preferences according to where you think you will have the best overall learning experience (and we think that will be with Froebel-Maynooth!)
Like the degree of Bachelor in Education (B.Ed), the Higher Diploma in Education (Primary) is a professional qualification which provides for the academic and professional requirements of primary school teachers. The Froebel College Higher Diploma course is already accredited by NUI Maynooth. When sanctioned, the first semester of this course will be taught on the Blackrock campus, and the final two semesters will take place on the NUI Maynooth campus, following the merger of Froebel College with NUI Maynooth this coming summer of 2013.
Students will register and have their degrees accredited by NUI Maynooth. All new Froebel students will have full access to the libraries and facilities on both the Froebel Blackrock and on the NUI Maynooth campus.
As this is a postgraduate course of studies, fees are payable for this course. The Department of Education and Skills determine the fees for each course. The tuition fees for the first semester of the course from February to June 2013 may be €2782.
In addition to tuition fees, there are once off fees of €275 for teaching materials. These are due only for the first semester, and thus the total fees for the first semester could be €3057.
The tuition fee for the following two semesters will depend on the fees as set by the Department of Education and Skills during the spring or summer of 2013.
A minimum of 14 weeks of school experience is incorporated into the Higher Diploma Course. Students who do not achieve satisfactory competence in school placement may be offered supplementary or repeat placements. External examiners from the University and the Department of Education and Skills moderate students' final teaching practice.
The evaluation of work for the Higher Diploma involves a combination of continuous assessment assignments, oral examinations, seminar presentations and written examinations.
- Arts Education (Visual Arts, Drama, Music)
- Educational Psychology, including Child Development
- English
- English Methods
- History of Education
- ICT
- Inclusive Education (Special Education Needs, Educational Disadvantage, Intercultural Education)
- Irish
- Irish Methods
- Mathematics
- Mathematics Methods
- Philosophy of Education
- Physical Education
- Professional Development
- Religious Education
- School Placement
- Social, Environmental and Scientific Education (SESE)
- Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE)
- Sociology of Education
All courses in the H.Dip. programme between February 2013 and June 2013 will be taught on the Froebel Blackrock campus. From September 2013, the final year of the course will be taught in the Froebel Centre for Early Childhood and Primary Education on the NUI Maynooth campus.